Collapsible clothes drier



R. J. RIZZQ COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES DRIER Jan. 2 s, was

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 10, 1956 INVENTOR. ROSARiO ij mzzo ATTQRNLYS Jan, 28, 1958 R. J. RIZZO 2,321,309

COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES DRIER Filed Jan. 10, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. ROSARxo J. RIZLO W704; V1344, A'r 'onnm's Jan. 28, W58 R. J. mzzo 298219309 COILLAPSIBLE CLOTHES DRIER Filed Jan. 10, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. ROSARW J1 Rlzlg BY Y United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES DRIER Rosario J. Rizzo, Elmont, N. Y., assignor to J. F. D. Mfg. Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 10, 1956, Serial No. 558,264

1 Claim. (Cl. 211-179) My invention relates to improvements in collapsible clothes driers of the type in which a row of clothes lines are mounted between hangers with the clothes lines extending in parallel directions.

In conventional clothes driers of this type, the hangers are straight in their extended or assembled positions, so that the clothes lines are arranged along a common horizontal plane. Such arrangement makes it difiicult for the user to reach the innermost clothes lines adjacent the center post, the outermost clothes lines being at the same horizontal level and obstructing access to the inner lines.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a clothes drier of the type described in which the hangers are each made of a pair of hanger arms arranged in the shape of a V, and each hanger arm being inclined upwardly from its inner end to its outer end, so that the inner clothes lines are readily accessible to the user without the necessity of squatting or stooping. Such V-shaped arrangement also provides a greater efiective drying area for the clothes hung on the lines.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a clothes drier of the type described in which the drier is provided with unique brackets or hinges arranged to bring the hangers automatically to their proper V-shaped position when the drier is extended.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a clothes drier of the type described in which a plurality of support members are arranged in such manner as to cause the drier parts to be smoothly, easily and conveniently collapsed and extended with the expenditure of minimum energy on the part of the user.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a clothes drier of the type described in which the drier arms fold upwardly and are not lowered relative to the center post when the drier is collapsed, so that the clothes lines hang evenly without tangling in the folded position of the drier, and cannot pass below the bottom of the center post.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent in the course of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a clothes drier made according to the invention, the drier being shown in extended operative position with the top cap of the center post removed for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the clothes drier of Fig. 1 in extended position, with portions of the clothes line broken away and the center post also broken away for convenience;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view as viewed from the left side of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2, but showing the drier in its fully collapsed or folded condition. In this view all clothes lines except the lowermost line are broken away to reveal inner structure;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation similar to Fig. 3, but showing the drier in collapsed position;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the brackets of the drier showing the manner of attachment of its associated parts;

Fig. 7 is a section taken along plane 77 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a section taken along lines 88 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in which like reference numerals denote like parts in all of the figures, there is shown a clothes drier made according to my invention and including a center post 10 which may be provided with a base (not shown) or suitable means for anchoring the post in upright vertical position in the ground. The center post 10 may be tubular and provided with the usual top rubber cap 28 for closing 011 its top end.

The clothes drier also includes a pair of hangers 11 and 12 disposed in V-shaped form in the extended position of the drier, as shown in Fig. 3. The hangers 11 and 12 are carried by support rods 14 and 15 so that they extend parallel to each other, spaced on opposite sides of the center post 10. A plurality of flexible clothes lines 16 are mounted parallel to each other between the hangers 11 and 12.

An elongated sleeve 17 is slidably mounted on the center post 10. Sleeve 17 has adjacent its bottom end a pair of aligned cars 18 projecting from one side thereof and a second pair of ears 19 projecting from the opposite side thereof. The ends of support rods 14 and 15 extend between the respective ears 18 and 19, and are pivoted thereto by pivot pins 20 extending between said pairs of ears.

The opposite ends of the support rods 14 and 15 each carry a bracket 21, one of said brackets being shown in detail in Fig. 6. The bracket 21 comprises a central sect-ion of inverted U-shape defining a transverse channel 22 which is open at its bottom end. Respective pairs of spaced ears 23 extend from opposite sides of said central section. 1

The brackets 21 are pivotally carried at the outer ends of support rods 14 and 15 by means of pivot pins 24 extending between the side walls of the U-shaped central bracket section and through the end portion of the support rods 14 and 15, as shown in Fig. 7.

The hangers 11 and 12 are formed of respective pairs of hanger arms 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b, of identical lengths. As shownin Fig. 1, the hanger arms 11a and 11b are pivoted between the opposed pairs of ears 23 of one bracket 21, while the hanger arms 12a and 12b are pivoted between the ears of the other bracket 21.

The manner of mounting the hanger arms on brackets 21 is shown clearly in the detailed view of Fig. 6 which illustrates the bracket carried by support rod 14. It may be seen that the ends of hanger arms 11a and 11b are mounted on pivot pins 25 extending between the inner end portions of the pairs of bracket ears 23, that is, adjacent the central U-shaped bracket section. Stop pins 26 are mounted between the pairs of bracket ears 23 at the outer ends thereof and in horizontal alignment with the pivot pins 25. It will be noted that in the extended position of the drier, the pivot pins 25 and stop pins 26 are horizontally disposed. The stop pins 26 are so located that they hold the respective hanger arms 11a, and 11b and 12a, 12b in upwardly inclined positions relative to the brackets 21 so that the hangers 11 and 12 in extended operative position assume the V-shape shown in Fig. 3. This is an important feature of the drier.

The hangers 11 and 12 are supported by four support arms 30, the inner ends of which are pivotally mounted on projecting ears 31 of a pair of bracket members 32, by pivot pins 33. The bracket members 32, as shown in Fig. 8, are fixed in diametrically opposed relationship to the upper end of sleeve 17 by rivets 27.

arms 11a, 11b; 12a and 12b, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 by'means of swivel joint connections consisting of pairs of interconnected eye bolts 3'4'and 35.-

The support arms 30 are in turn-supporte'd by four brace arms 36 mounted on a pair of brackets 37-fixed rigidly to the top end of center post by rivets 38. Each bracket 37 has-a pair of projecting cars 39 to each of which one of the brace arms 36 is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 40. The opposite ends of each brace arm 36 extend between a pairof plates 41 fixedly-mounted adjacentthe'center of each support arm 30 and is pivotedbetween said pair of plates-41 by'a pivot pin 42.

Figs. 4-and 5 show the slidable collar 17- in its lowermost position, the drier being in its collapsed or folded condition. The brace arms 36 have pivoted downwardlyuntil'they are parallel to and proximate to the post 10. The support arms- 30and support rods 14,- have pivoted upwardly and are substantially parallel to center post 10. In addition, the hanger arms 11a, llb and 12a, 12b have pivoted upwardly and inwardly toward each other and are upstanding from the'ends' of support rods 14 and 15, so that the collapsed drier is in-compact form for convenient transporting or storage. As shown in Fig. 4, the hangers 11 and 12 are slightly inclined toward each other-in their collapsed position;

When it is desired to bring the drier to its'assembled, extended position, it is merely necessary to slide-the sleeve 17 upwardly upon the center post 10; This'upward movement-of sleeve 17 causes the support arms 30 to move upwardly and also to pivot downwardly because'of their pivoted connection to the fixed brace arms 361 The downward pivoting of the support arms 30 in turn lowers the hanger arms 11a, 11b, 12a and 12b, at the these support'rods and arms topivot downwardly, which downward pivoting raises the sleeve 17. As the drier approaches its fully extended position, the sleeve 17 is thus being raised by the weight of the hangers 11 and 12. In the fully extendedposition of the drier shown in Figs. 1, '2 and 3, upward movement of the sleeve is halted by a stop pin 43' fixed to the center post 10.

In the extended position of the drier, thesupport rods 14' and '1'5'are axially aligned and are substantially horizontal, thebrackets21, and'their pivot pins and stop pins '26 being also'horiiontally disposed. The support arms 'are slightly downwardly inclined fromthe sleeve 17 'to the hangers 11 and'12, and the brace arms 36 are sharply inclined downwardly.

In this'extended position, as has'been previously indicated, the 'stoppins 26 of brackets 21' locate the hanger arms'in angularpositions relative to said brackets 21, so'that'the'hangers I1 and 12 assume the V-shape shown inFig. 3. Such V-shape'l'ocates the clothes lines 16 axiallyparallel'to eachother, but at stepped horizontal levels. Thisarrangement presents a'distinct advantage in contrastto theconventional driers in which the clothes lines are parallel andhorizontally aligned, making it difiicult for the user toreach the inner lines, that is, the lines adjacent the'center' post. In such conventional driers, theouter lines invariably' strike the'users face or head as the user reaches forthe'inner lines; necessitating stoopingand gropingfor gaining access to" the center of the drier. In-the drier ofthe present invention,"the"V-shaped arrangement of the'hangers provides easy accessibility to the inner clothes lines 16 and-- also to the sleeve 17 (for drier.

extending or collapsing the drier), even when the user is in a comfortable, upright standing position. The stepped arrangement of the clothes lines also locates the drying clothes in a vertically staggered position, increasing the effective drying area and decreasing the drying time.

It will be noted from a comparison of Figs. 3 and 5, that the brackets 21 are in substantially the same vertical level at both the extended and collapsed positions of the The hangers 11 and '12 therefore fold upwardly relative to the-post 10 rather than being drawn down along the post-or being rotatedabout its central axis as in driers presently on the market. Consequently, when the ends of the clothes lines 16 are drawn closer to each other when the drier is collapsed, the lowermost line 16, as shown in Fig. 6, hangs downwardly only a short distance relative to the post 10, its bottom end terminating well short-of the bottom ofpost 10: In many conventional driers,the-collapsed clothes'lines hang below the bottom ofthecentralpost so that theyeither drag onthe ground,

or, if the post is not mounted, swing over to the opposite" side below-the bottom of the post, causing tangling and snarling of the lines with each other and with thecenter' post.

In addition, the uniformly staggered arrangement 'of" While a preferred embodiment of my invention has been shownand described herein, it is'obvious that numerous omissions, changes and additions maybe 'madewithout departing from the spirit and-scope of the invention.

Whatis claimed is:

A-collapsible clothes drier comprising a center post adapted to be maintained in an upright vertical position, a sleeve vertically slidable. on said post, a pair of support arms pivoted on opposite sides of said sleeve at the upper end thereof, pairs of support" rods pivoted on opposite sides of said sleeve at the lower endthereof with a respective support rod located between each respective pair of support arms, brace arms each pivoted to theupper'end of. said post at one end of-said brace arm and to the interlaterally at right angles to said support rod, pairsof spaced and parallel ears'projecting laterally and vertically from respective opposite sides of said central yoke por tion, and a'horizontal stop pin connecting between each pair of cars adjacent the free ends thereof a hanger mounted on each brackeneach hanger comprising a. pair of hanger arms, each of said hanger arms being pivotally mountednat one of its ends between a respective pair of bracket ears inwardly of' said stop pin and so as to be turnable about a horizontal axis which is'transverse to said ears, said support arms andlsaidbracearms cooperating with said sleeve andsaid support rods for bringing said hangers to an extended pos'itionwhen said collar is raised on saidcenter post and a collapsed position when said collar is lowered on said center post, 'said'support'rods' being disposed substantially horizontally in said extended position with the hangers spaced on opposite sides of said center po'st, said support rods being disposed substantially parallel to and adjacent said center post in said collapsed position, with thehanger arms upstanding therefrom, each said hanger arm abutting its stop pin and being upwardly outwardly inclined when in extended position, withthe;

extended hangers horizontally alined.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS g Robertson Mar. 14, 1916 McClane Oct. 13, 1925 Culp Mar. 16, 1926 6 Clinker apt. 11, 1928 Bitney Jan. 13, 1942 Pollard et a1 July 14, 1942 Midouhas Jan. 11, 1949 Pierie Mar. 2, 1954 Kanemoto Nov. 1, 1955 

